Industrialists advocate screening clauses of RCEP agreement

Punjab chapter of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), in association with the union ministry of commerce and industry and Centre for WTO Studies organised an industry consultation on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Friday.

Industrialists advocated the screening of RCEP agreement clauses so as to ensure it is not misused like the South Asian Free trade Agreement (SAFTA).The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is intended to be a free trade agreement (FTA) between the 10 ASEAN countries— Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam—and six countries with which ASEAN has existing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)—Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand.

Bipin Menon, director of Foreign Trade and Vijay Kumar, a director from union ministry, were present at the meet to receive feedback from exporters, especially those involved in the engineering, machine tools and textile sectors.FIEO regional chairman SC Ralhon, said, "The objective of the RCEP agreement is to boost export. It is necessary to consult the industry to seek their views in order we can fulfil the aim."

Ralhan said import in some sectors of the country exceeds exports, a cause of worry."To increase our exports significantly, therefore, is the need of the hour," he said.

Vijay Kumar apprised exporters of the Rules of Origin (ROO) and detailed the benefits one can be accorded under FTP and RCEP.